Tuesday, January 07, 2014

Beer Reviews

Starting in late August last year, I wrote a review of each
different kind of beer I drank, excluding the large variety of beers I drank
during the Brew Ha Ha event in Sycamore, IL, in September. Things got a little
foggy after awhile and reviewing each beer (I must have tried close to 50
different beers, in shot glass portions) was impossible. But except for that
omission, every different beer I’ve tried since August 31, 2013 has gotten a
short review.

Writing reviews on beers inspired me to try many different beers. I have many old favorites, but am always open to new flavors. And the onslaught of variety that has become available in my lifetime means it will take more than a lifetime to explore all the different varieties of beer available. These are indeed heady times!

I follow a simple 5-star scale. I tend to bias towards IPAs
and darker beers. Lagers, pilsners and other lighter beers are treated fairly,
but I tend to give higher ratings to the beers I like. I will list the
approximate date, the name of the beer and (if I have it handy) the brewery, my
star rating, and the short review.

So far, my favorite is.....

I tried this one on Sept. 20, 2013 (see review below). The following are brief, non-scientific reviews of the 35+ different beers I've had since August 31.

8/31, Guinness draught (from a can), Guinness Brewery, Dublin, Ireland, 4
stars. Creamy delicious. A classic for a reason. I first discovered this beer
more than 15 years ago and it still ranks up there as one of my all-time
favorites. I remember when I lived in Antigo, WI, and couldn’t find this beer,
so I took a trip to Green Bay just to hunt down a few cases.

Hop Notch IPA and Baba Black Lager, Uinta Brewing Co., Salt
Lake City, UT. 3-stars for Hop Notch, 4 stars for Baba Black. I drank both of
these at The House Café in DeKalb during a live show of a favorite local band,
The Great Influence Machine, at Cornfest. Hop Notch was almost too hoppy, an
insult of flavor, but the Baba Black was creamy coffee smooth.

9/20, Chimay Peres Trappiste Premiere (Red Label), Chimay Brewery, Hainaut, Belgium, brewed by the Scourmont Abbey, 5 stars.
The only one of the eight Belgian Trappist ales widely marketed in the United States. A
true labor of love, time and devotion. Full-bodied, balanced, smooth, and full
of flavor across the entire palate.

9/27. Pumpkick, New Belgium Brewing Co., Fort Collins, CO, 4 stars. Any beer
touting cranberry and pumpkin flavors raises a frou frou red flag, but this
full-bodied lager was subtle on those flavors, which came out mostly on the
back palate.

Old Style, Pabst Brewing Co., Los Angeles, 3 ½ stars. My favorite swill beer. (Go Cubs!!)
But still a swill. A little weak and watery, but with a distinct flavor I like.

10/5, Woodchuck Pumpkin Cider, The Woodchuck Cidery, Middlebury, VT, 3 ½ stars. Not technically a
beer. Very full-bodied. Sweet. A little strong on the spices, but a very
sippable dessert quaff.

10/11, Farmhouse Hatter Farmhouse IPA Belgian Style Pale
Ale, New Holland Brewery, Holland, MI, 3 ½ stars. As IPAs go, this is pretty tame, so it
may be a good introductory beer to those a little put off by the hoppy
effrontery of most IPAs. Nice, frothy head. Golden body. Hops balanced by
sweetness.

Hamm’s, Hamm's Brewing Co., Milwaukee, WI, 3 stars. C’mon. Sing along with me. “From the land
of sky blue waters (waters). From the land of pines. Comes a beer refreshing.
Hamm’s the beer refreshing. Hamm’s.” The jingle. The classic unchanged can. $3
a six pack. A typical swill beer, but be warned. Don’t get your swerve on with
this beer. It will rip through your system like a marauding bear.

10/13, Rampant Imperial India Pale Ale, New Belgium Brewing Co.,
3 ½ stars. Very aromatic, or, as I joked, “odoriferous.” And hoppy. As an IPA
should be. It’s clean and smooth and flavorful, but there’s nothing distinctive
about it.

Pabst Blue Ribbon, Pabst Brewing Company, Los Angeles, 3 stars. The ultimate swill American
Adjunct Lager. Hipsters across the nation decry the superior drinkability of
PBR. I bought a 24-pack for $9.99, so it’s my beer of choice for awhile.

10/26, Wernesgrüner, Wernesgrüner Braueri, Steinberg - Wernesgrün, Germany. 3 ½
stars. Can’t beat the price on this one – free. I found it in Aldi’s dumpster.
For a beer available at Aldi’s, it is clean and crisp, with a little sweetness
on the back palate. A light and refreshing pilsner.

11/15, Leinenkugel’s (original golden draft), Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company, Chippewa Falls, WI, 3 ½ stars. An
old favorite. Typical lager, yeah, but well-crafted. Good head. Sweet finish.
True golden color. I poured a Leinie and PBR side by side. The PBR is lighter
and more bubbly. The head dissipated quickly. The Leinie looks solid and darker
by comparison. Leinie’s bring back memories of camping trips up north. The
brewery also produces solid craft and seasonal brews.

11/22, Winter White, Belgium White Ale, Bell’s Brewing Co.,
Kalamazoo, MI. 4 ½ stars. I’ve never had a bad beer from this brewery, and the
Winter White continues the standard of excellence. Very cloudy. Very white.
Full-bodied. Complex wheaty flavors, with a sweet finish of coriander and
cardamom. One of the best whites I’ve had in a while.

Accumulation White IPA, winter seasonal, New Belgium Brewing
Co., Fort Collins, CO. 4 stars. Another seasonal tried on tap at PJs Courthouse
Tavern in Sycamore. Intensely hoppy with a sweet finish. This is a beast of an
IPA, but after it bowls you over, it picks you back up. I like this brewery.
Fat Tire is one of my favorite lagers.

11/23, Icehouse, Miller Brewing Co., Milwaukee WI, 2 ½
stars. I bought this beer at Liquorland on 11th St., in Rockford en
route to pick up my friend Shawn for a road trip into Chicago. Liquorland is in
a seedy part of town and boasts the largest selection of cheap 40 and 24 oz.
beers I’ve ever seen. The primo ultima in cheap-o I saw is LaBatt’s Max Ice
(7.1 percent ABV), 99 cents for 24 ounces. I wasn’t brave enough for that. The
Icehouse is bad enough.

All Day IPA, Session Ale, Founders Brewing Company, Grand
Rapids, MI. 3 ½ stars. A low ABV for an IPA, but a very balanced flavor.
Flowery aromas. I drank it too cold out of the bottle – not the best
arrangement – but the flavor improved as the beer warmed.

Breakfast Stout, imperial stout, Founders Brewing Co., 4 ½
stars. Again, less than ideal drinking conditions – cold, out of the bottle –
at a rock concert, but the complexity, sweet and bitter balance, coffee and
chocolate notes, makes for a very fine beer. I am not surprised to see it gets
a 100 rating on Beer Advocate. A great find!

11/30, American Pale Ale, Wisconsin Brewing Co., Verona, WI.
3 stars. This is a put-hair-on-your-back in-your-face blast of hoppy goodness.
While it’s not for the faint of heart, and the hoppy/ sweetness interplay is
all out of balance for hoppy, I’d drink it again because what I love about
IPAs, or, in this case, an APA, is the aura of a floral bouquet you get in the
front palate. This beer has quite an aura!

12/1, Two Brothers Sidekick American Pale Ale, Two Brothers Brewing Co., Aurora, IL, 4 stars.
Drunk on draft in a tall glass at Buffalo Wild Wings. Hoppy, but not
overwhelming. Well-balanced. Not weak. Not overwhelming. I have yet to be
disappointed by a beer from Chicago-area Two Brothers.

12/6, Local 1529 IPA, Detroit Beer Company, Detroit, MI, 3 ½
stars. Two friends and I stopped at this
brew pub before attending the MAC Championship Game featuring our alma mader,
NIU, versus Bowling Green. This IPA has an odd, skunky hoppiness on the front
palate, but finishes nice and sweet. A distinctive, acquired flavor.

Budweiser, Anheuser-Busch Inbev, 3 stars. Not much to say about America’s most
popular beer. It’s like most things pop. Simple. Direct. Bland. Serviceable.
Its risen to the top by being “smooth,” i.e. a beer for people who have yet to
acquire a taste for beer. And that’s why I don’t seek it out.

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., Chico, CA, 4 stars. By comparison to Budweiser,
the Sierra Nevada is an onslaught of flavor. Balanced, yet smooth (sans
quotation marks), and quite drinkable. It’s hoppy and floral, but not in IPA
intensity. I discovered this beer a long time ago (15+ years) and return to it
time and time again.

12/11 Don De Dieu, triple fermented wheat ale, Unibroue
Brewery, Chambly, Quebec. 4 stars. I loved Fin Du Monde by this brewery and
their wheat ale is excellent as well!At 9 percent ABV, it packs a punch, but is
balanced by the wheaty sugars, making for a surprisingly smooth beer.